OK temperatures have dropped and therefore reminded me that I should have improved insulation in house last year!!!

1955 Bungalow with a Lounge built over a garage and an open stair case leading up to a roof conversion bedroom. The bedroom has a radiator within but an area (landing) outside the bedroom door approx 3m x 2m has no form of heating.

Garage is large but a single with up and over garage door (with lots of drafts) and a concrete roof/floor. Should note that the boiler is located in the garage. Lounge is 3m x 7m with 2 large windows and 2 smaller windows built over the garage. There is NO insulation on the garage roof or between the roof and the joists to floor boards. The space between the two is approx 4" to the under side of the joists which I can see down from under the crawl space under the house. I therefore cannot access easily the space under the lounge.

Crawl space access within Garage (again with drafts) and a door approx 1m square. Leads to rest of crawl space which varies in height under the joist from ~1.5m to < 0.25m

Kitchen is incredibly drafty around non-fixed applianced (washer & dryer) and has a tiled floor. I can access the crawl space under the whole kitchen and the majority of the rest of the house.

I want to improve heat loss from flooring area especially in the lounge and kitchen as these seem to be the rooms which suffer badly for being cold.

Challenge 1 - Under the kitchen (3m x 4m) I have considered putting insulated boards (celotex??) between the joints but not up against the underside of the floorboards (is this OK to do?) and also perhaps under other areas without carpet I.e. Bathroom Floor (Varnished floorboards 3mx4m) and Hallway (Solid wooden floor over original floorboards 1.5m x 8m).

Challenge 2 - The lounge (carpeted) How can I improve the insulation of this floor given the challenge of the space between Garage roof and Joists. Considered trying to push rolls of fibre insulation down using rods but this would be rested on top of the concrete garage roof. Like wise considered Celotex type boards cut into strips to get through access space! again rested on garage roof. Would this be "acceptable" and likely to improve heat loss?

Also considering the replacement of the up and over garage door with a double glazed type unit to reduce the amount of draft as I don't use the garage for vehicles.

The first thing you must do is go round all the doors, windows, ceilings and floors and seal any gaps/cracks that you find.

Keep in mind that the passing wind creates a low pressure area over the roof that tries to lift the roof off - this pulls the warm air out of your home, the warm air is replaced by cold air.

Blocking all the holes, is a quick way to make the most of the heat that you are paying for and losing. A quick fix for the floors is to cover them with newspaper and sheets of hardboard to stop the cold air coming through, use canned foam or tape to fill awkward to get at holes.

Once you have fixed the holes and drafts then move on to the insulation.

If you think about it, a Thermos flask is a good example of what a home should be, a solid container with no drafts and one usually sealed opening. The flask relies on a vacuum to keep the heat in, the only heat loss, is through the neck of the flask by conduction.

We cannot buy or make a vacuum flask in the shape and size of a room, so we have to make do with the next best thing - insulation.

Start with the lounge.

To keep the heat in, the lounge needs to be lined with polystyrene sheet. That means covering the ceiling, walls and floors with polystyrene. Polystyrene sheet is a mass of tiny air bubbles held together with very thin plastic, each bubble contains air which is the best insulation available at a decent price, polystyrene is warm to touch and is draft proof.

Start by covering the floor with inch thick (or thicker) sheets of polystyrene, then cover the polystyrene with Oriented Strand Board floor boards, these need to be tongued and grooved and stuck together with wood glue. You must take care the the new floor does not touch anything and is fully floating, gluing turns the floor into one insulated monolithic piece, that will keep the heat in the room. Fill the gap round the floor boards with canned foam.

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